National Museum of Romanian History

The museum is housed in the former Palace of Posts (Palatul Poștelor), a monumental building authorized in 1892. The architect, Alexandru Săvulescu, designed the structure in an eclectic style after touring European postal facilities, with the Geneva post office serving as a primary influence. The building is rectangular, featuring a high basement, three upper floors, and a large porch. The stone façade is distinguished by a portico supported by ten Doric columns and a platform of twelve steps spanning the building's length. The exterior is adorned with numerous allegorical sculptural details, reflecting the grandeur of the late 19th-century architectural trends in Bucharest.

A centerpiece of the museum is the Historical Treasure, an extraordinary collection comprising over 3,000 artifacts and jewelry pieces. This collection reflects the richness and cultural diversity of the civilizations that inhabited the territory of modern Romania. Notable items include the famous Dacian gold bracelets, the Cloșca with the golden chickens, and the Romanian Crown Jewels, including the Steel Crown and the Crown of Queen Elizabeth. These unique objects illustrate the craftsmanship of artisans from different eras and commemorate crucial moments in national history, serving as a testament to the region's artistic and political evolution.

Beyond the Historical Treasure, the museum features a full-size plaster cast of Trajan's Column, a faithful reproduction of the ancient Roman monument that allows visitors to examine the bas-reliefs depicting the Dacian Wars in detail. This exhibit is housed in a dedicated space designed to provide historical and artistic context. The Lapidarium exhibition displays epigraphic and architectural monuments from Antiquity and the Middle Ages, including civil documents, decrees, honorary monuments, and religious funerary and votive sculptures. The museum also maintains a significant philatelic collection, boasting over 11 million stamps, and a vast collection of historical maps.

The National Museum of Romanian History holds immense significance as the primary institution for the study and display of the nation's past, bridging prehistoric, Roman, medieval, and modern eras. It serves as a critical educational resource and a symbol of national identity. In January 2025, the museum was the site of a major international incident when the Coțofenești Helmet, a Geto-Dacian artifact from the early 4th century BC, was stolen while on loan to the Drents Museum in the Netherlands. This event, along with the theft of three other gold artifacts, led to the dismissal of the museum's director and sparked a national debate regarding the security of cultural heritage loans.